Lapis, Yellow decided, was a good gem to have around. Sure, it was hard not to have a few reservations like Blue did about her, but her powers came in handy.

She'd kept to herself at first, but Peridot was somehow getting through to her despite a few misunderstandings and now Lapis hung around the barn and would help them lift or move things that would have been a bit of a struggle otherwise—or sometimes just inconvenient.

"Can you pass me that hammer?"

Lapis flicked her wrist and sent it flying over, Yellow catching it easily.

"Thanks."

"Why are you going back?"

She blinked, startled, and turned to face the other gem. It was the first time Lapis had really shown much interest in what they were doing. "To Homeworld?"

"Yeah." Lapis criss-crossed her legs, still hovering lazily in the air. "You'll get shattered, won't you?"

"I'm not planning on going back to Yellow Diamond," she replied irritably. "That would just be idiotic."

"So…"

"So we've got an obligation to the other Pearls," Yellow said.

Lapis looked skeptical. "You don't seem the type to care about that sort of thing."

"Look, I'm sure I didn't leave the best impression the one time you saw me on Homeworld," Yellow muttered. "But things are different now, and I want to help somebody besides myself for once. It wouldn't be right for me and Blue to just sit around here."

"But you escaped. Wasn't the whole point to stay away?"

"Not really," she answered with a shrug. "Besides, that was sheer luck. Nobody else is going to be able to escape like that, so we've got to figure out a real solution. Can't do that from here."

Lapis nodded slowly.

"What about you?" Yellow asked, attempting a friendly inquiry in return.

"What do you mean?"

"Where are you going?"

"I…I don't know," she murmured. "I didn't—don't—want to stay here. But I'm not going back to Homeworld either."

"I figured."

Lapis looked away. "When did it all change so much anyway?"

Yellow shrugged. "You're asking the wrong gem. I'm Era 2."

"Oh."

She didn't say anything else, and Yellow didn't know where to go from there anyway, so she just got back to work.

But Steven came bursting in minutes later with a big smile, and the emptiness in Lapis' eyes quickly began to be replaced by happiness when he ran and jumped up to give her a hug. "Hi!"

"Hi, Steven."

"Is Peridot here?"

"She fell asleep up there," Yellow said, pointing up to the loft. "Want me to wake her up?"

"No, it's okay! You can show her later, I bet she's really tired from working hard." Steven gave Yellow a quick hug in greeting too, then grandly handed over a large card to Lapis. "This is for you!"

Lapis stared down at it.

"Did I…get the words wrong?" he asked when she didn't say anything for a while.

"No. No, it's great."

To Lapis and Peridot: Congratulations on becoming roommates! I hope we can all keep having fun adventures together.

Lapis traced a finger over the paper, gazing down at the little people drawn there—her, Steven, and Peridot, all smiling.

"And I thought you guys could use some more decoration in here, you know? So if you want, part two of your welcoming present can be figuring that out together."

"Steven…"

"It doesn't mean you have to stay forever!" he said quickly. "Just, you know, we should make it feel more like home for as long as you do wanna be here."

She breathed out a small sigh of relief. "Thanks. I…I'd like that."

Yellow met back up with Blue for training and, to their surprise, Amethyst and Garnet were waiting alongside Pearl in the temple.

"If you're interested," Pearl began, "we thought we might try a different type of practice today."

"What kind of practice?" Blue asked curiously.

"Fusion practice," Garnet answered with a smile.

"Oh! With Green?" She looked to Yellow quickly. "Do you want to?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Yellow answered with a little smirk. "And I can tell you want to."

"Well, it's important that she gets some practice too!" she said, blushing faintly.

"It is," she agreed. "Okay, we're in."

"Awesome!" Amethyst declared.

"We're going to keep it to two-gem fusions," Pearl explained as the five of them made their way to the door. "So it'll be Opal and Garnet as your opponents."

"Okay," Blue agreed excitedly.

"We're not practicing in the arena?" Yellow asked.

"Nah, Pearl doesn't want to mess it up," Amethyst said, rolling her eyes. "'Sides, the beach gives us more space to fight."

"Exactly," Pearl said, leading them all out onto the sand. "Yellow, Blue, if you would?"

Yellow held out a hand and Blue took it gracefully, fusing coming easily to them in a way that continued to make her feel a cozy sense of security.

"Hi," Green greeted the others with a smile. "It's great to see you again!"

"You too, welcome back!" Amethyst replied. "Wish we could hang out, buuut I think it's our turn now, right, P?"

"Whenever you're ready," she agreed happily. "Shall we?"

"Yeah, let's go."

The two of them fused with a bit less flair this time, just a few simple dance steps towards each other before their gems lit up and Opal appeared in their place.

"Hello again," she greeted them, leaning down to give Garnet a hug with one arm and Green a pat on the shoulder with another. "And nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Green returned. Despite her own additional height from being fused, she still felt small next to Opal. Must have been the Quartz in her, she thought.

"Are you ready to try this out?"

She nodded. "I don't know how good I'll be, but I want to learn."

"Of course, we don't expect you to be perfect," Opal said with a smile. "And you probably know more than you think—Blue and Yellow have been improving a lot lately."

"Thanks," Green replied, then wondered if it was odd to say thank you for something she hadn't exactly done herself. "Let's do this."

"Alright! Who would you like to spar with first?"

Green considered it, tugging at the sheer fabric around her shoulders. Opal was bigger and, from what Yellow and Blue had been told, had more of a ranged weapon. Both of those aspects posed their own challenges. On the other hand, there was Garnet, a little bit smaller than her, who they'd sparred with a bit before—but she definitely had more strength than Green did, and a lot more experience. And she was a fusion all the time, whereas Opal seemed to appear more for "special occasions" as Steven put it.

"Opal first," she decided, curiosity getting the better of her.

"I hope you're not choosing me as a warm-up," Opal laughed, reaching to her gems to pull out Amethyst's whip and Pearl's spear, snapping them together in a flash to form a bow.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Green smiled, reached to Blue's gem for her weapon, and then paused. "Wait, so I can summon separately while I'm fused?"

"Absolutely," Opal answered. "Though your combined weapon will likely be a better fit for you once you've learned to summon it."

"Okay." She pulled the spear out anyway, then touched Yellow's gem lightly, managing to get it to glow a bit but nothing else. "Guess I can't cheat," she said with a sigh. "She'd want to do it on her own first anyway." Green paused. "What are the rules on weapons for this match?"

"Use anything and everything you like. Let's just see where you're at right now."

"Sounds good."

"Go easy on her this first time," Garnet told Opal with a smirk.

"I will."

"Don't go easy on me, I have to learn!"

"You won't learn very much if I don't," Opal laughed. "But don't worry, it won't be too easy."

She was right, Green discovered quickly. Opal was lithe and quick, and the Quartz in her definitely gave her some added strength.

But fighting her was fun. Green dodged behind rocks and crumbled bits of temple for cover, trying to use her own speed to her advantage as she avoided Opal's arrows and tried to sneak around behind her before she could react. She shielded her gems whenever she felt one of the energy blasts zip past her, a few of them grazing her arms or legs when she didn't get out of the way soon enough. The range of it made for an interesting challenge, and she flung smaller weapons in Opal's direction with a steady hand before switching to Blue's spear when she got in closer.

"You're doing great!" Opal encouraged her as the sharp blade just barely nicked her arm.

Fighting was exhilarating, in a different way from last time, because she had to think quickly and make split-second choices that would put her at an advantage. It wasn't just stabbing indiscriminately like she'd done with Malachite, it was strategy.

"Oh, yes, I'm so proud of you for remembering your posture," Opal said when they got a bit closer to one another, sounding particularly Pearl-y.

Green laughed. "Of course I remember, you've drilled it into me a hundred times. Two hundred."

"And I'm glad I did." She loosed an arrow that split into a flurry of them, sending Green ducking to flatten herself on the ground.

She rolled closer to the cliff side, springing up onto the rocks for added height and then flinging a carefully aimed dagger a few inches over Opal's head. It arced down, as she'd hoped, and embedded itself harmlessly in Opal's ponytail. That and another three, aimed at various points on her body, kept all of her arms occupied for the split second she needed. Green shoved herself away from the cliff, her jump sending her straight into Opal, who staggered but didn't fall, rapidly using her bow to block the following sword attack and pry Green off of her.

Green tumbled to the ground inelegantly, but tried to stay ready as Opal armed herself with another arrow.

"I could do this all day," Opal said, and it was more of a compliment than a boast. "It's been a while since I've had a chance to practice this way."

"Don't use up all her energy," Garnet called.

"Oh, alright. C'mon, I'll tag you in and take a little break. Is that alright, Green?"

She nodded breathlessly.

Opal leaped over to slap Garnet's hand lightly. She sprang into action, leaving Opal to lean back against the cliff and rest as she watched.

Garnet was a completely different type of fighter, and Green very nearly got hit with the first punch thrown. A jolt of panic went through her, even though she knew Garnet wouldn't actually hurt her. But last time she'd gotten into such a hands-on fight, Blue had taken too much damage. That couldn't happen again.

"You've got this," Garnet told her, pausing just a second for Green to regain her footing before attacking again.

Green threw her left arm up across her gems to block the next strike, but it was a feint and Garnet knocked her spear from her other hand. She sprang backward, summoning another and keeping her distance.

When Garnet lunged forward, she ducked and slashed the spear out to keep her at arm's length.

"Don't be afraid to go on the offensive," she said, not even pausing. "You're holding yourself back."

She was doing terribly. She could tell she was doing terribly and they were only a couple minutes in. Fighting in close quarters felt too much this time, and she couldn't bring herself to summon any of the boldness she'd felt when she'd been up against Malachite.

Green got a few good hits in, but even those weren't as strong as they should have been. Blue and Yellow, when they trained, always tried to envision their sparring partner as someone who would actually hurt them given the chance. It usually pushed them to work harder. But now, for Green, it was only making her realize how careful she had to be. It was getting in the way.

She narrowly avoided a kick and stumbled, falling sideways onto the sand. "I'm sorry," she gasped, "can we stop for today? I think I need some time to figure things out."

"Of course." Garnet helped her up, then knocked a fist lightly beneath the two gems on her chest. "You're alright. Don't overthink things."

"I won't," she agreed, though she wasn't sure how well she'd be able to keep that promise. "Thanks."

Garnet nodded, waving to Opal to come join them. "Any advice for her?"

"Lots. I need to write it all down so I don't forget. Pearl has so many ideas for our next training session!" Opal gently patted Green's head. "You're doing great."

"Thank you." She was pleased with some of her tricks during her spar with Opal, even if the latter half of the practice hadn't gone so well.

As Garnet and Opal made their way back to the house, promising she could come get them for more practice at any time, Green took a few minutes to herself on the beach, swinging Blue's spear lazily as she gazed out at the water. Eventually, feeling like her thoughts were getting nowhere useful, she turned to go back in.

To her surprise, Jasper called out to her as she passed by on her way to the temple.

"Why are you fighting scared all of a sudden?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're fighting scared, and it's ridiculous. I've been on the receiving end of your attacks and even if they weren't good, I could at least tell you meant it."

Green scowled. "It's none of your business how I fight."

"Yeah, you're right." Jasper crossed her arms. "I don't care if my enemy wants to be a wimp about everything, it just makes it easier."

"I'm not being a wimp, I'm strategizing," she replied.

"Ha."

"Not all of us can throw ourselves into the fray without thinking!" Green snapped, hands curling protectively over her gems.

"Is that what you think we Quartzes do?"

"It's all they've seen you do."

"And half of you had the nerve to lecture me about overgeneralizing based on gem type," she grumbled.

"The other half would be happy to do so as well."

"I don't doubt it."

Green crossed her arms. "Alright, tell me how you would do it."

"What?"

"Tell me."

"We're not on the same side here."

"I'm well aware, but you sounded like you were ready to give your opinion anyway, so go ahead."

"…Fine." Jasper looked her over critically. "You look like you'd rather run away than take a punch. You're never going to win a fight like that."

"Well, I need to be a defensive fighter, so—"

"There's a difference between defensive and scared." She pointed to her own chest, two fingers mirroring where Green's gems were. "You're putting a huge target right here, and that's not what you want. Don't show your enemy you have something to lose."

"Fair point," she admitted reluctantly.

"And you're not planning on fighting alone, right?" Jasper gestured back to the temple, then in the vague direction of the sky, which Green assumed meant the Pearls on Homeworld. "You have to learn to fight with your allies, or you're just going to get in each other's way."

"That…does make sense."

"Which, if you cared to notice, is what Quartz soldiers do all the time. If you're a defensive fighter, you find somebody who's offensive to balance you out."

"That's what you did?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know, you don't really seem like the teaming-up type. Your huge fusion mess aside."

"Shut up about fusion. It was bad enough watching you three today."

"You didn't have to watch," Green replied, the corner of her mouth curving up. "And I am a fusion. Wouldn't that mean I have to stop talking altogether?"

Jasper glared at her. "You're more irritating than the two of them put together, you know that?"

Green just smiled, shrugging.

"Anyway, you should figure out a better way to fight. That's all I'm saying."

"Well, thanks, I guess."

"Sure."

Green left the conversation at that, making her way back up to the temple and then over to the barn via warp pad. It was only once she arrived that she realized she'd forgotten to unfuse, and she came face to face with a very startled Lapis.

"Hi," she said awkwardly.

The smaller gem stood frozen in place, eyes wide, and then bolted up to the roof out of sight.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!"

Lapis didn't answer, and Green could feel both her components agree to separate, unfusing with a deep breath in and out.

Yellow stumbled a bit as they came apart and Blue steadied her by the arm, giving it a small squeeze. "Give me a minute," she murmured. She jumped up to grab the edge of the roof and peek over. "Hey," she said, getting Lapis' attention. "I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

"Fine," Lapis muttered, drawing her knees in close to her chest.

"We didn't mean to—"

"It's fine."

"Okay." It clearly wasn't, but Blue didn't want to stick around when she wasn't wanted. She was about to let go when Lapis spoke again.

"What's it like?"

"What do you mean?"

"Fusing. You all act like it's this great thing and…"

"And Malachite wasn't?" she finished tentatively.

"Malachite…consumed me."

Blue nodded, then carefully pulled herself all the way up onto the roof to sit. Maybe Lapis did need to talk about it, even though she never seemed to want to. "It's different, when it's with somebody you care about. It feels safe."

"Nothing's felt safe for a long time," Lapis said quietly.

"I get that."

She looked up sharply, like she was about to argue, but then stopped herself. "Maybe you do."

"…I'm sorry if seeing us fused made you feel less safe."

Lapis shrugged. "I can't avoid thinking about Jasper forever."

"No." Blue paused. "I tried sometimes, with Blue Diamond. It never really worked."

"Yeah." Lapis' hands curled into fists as she looked up to the slowly darkening sky. "You hate her?"

"Most days. But other times, it's just…complicated."

"Do you ever want to go back to her?" she asked.

"No," Blue said, not sure if she ought to be offended. "Why?"

Lapis' shoulders hunched, shame written all over her face. "Sometimes I want to go back to Jasper. To being Malachite."

"Oh," Blue said softly. "Yeah, I can understand that. It feels easier to stay sometimes, even if it hurts to be there."

"Yeah." She closed her eyes briefly. "But there's no point in going back anyway, is there?"

"No." She smiled faintly. "Take whatever freedom you can get."

Lapis laughed wryly. "I guess a Pearl would know best."

It was both genuine and humorous, and Blue liked her a little more for it.

"Thanks for listening."

"It's no trouble. Thank you too," Blue offered self-consciously, rising to her feet to give Lapis some space.

"For what?"

"You don't treat Pearls like objects."

"It's hard to treat anyone like an object when you've been one yourself for thousands of years."

They shared a fleeting smile, and for a moment Blue felt oddly comforted by Lapis' presence.

"See you around."

"Yeah," Blue replied. "See you around."